President J&K High Court Bar Association, Srinagar, advocate Mian Qayoom Thursday said “Special powers to government forces in the state obstruct normal course of law.”

Qayoom was speaking during the daylong seminar titled “The right to self-determination and human rights violations in Kashmir – post HRC report at District Court Complex, Moominabad Batamaloo, Srinagar.

“Special laws in force like Armed Forces Special Powers Act and Public Safety Act have created structures that obstruct the normal course of law, impede accountability and jeopardize the right to remedy for victims of human rights violations J&K,” he said while quoting recent United Nations Human Rights office report.

Qayoom said the report reveals “the administrative detention appears to be used by J&K authorities to circumvent the protections of ordinary criminal procedure.”

“These laws, as per UN report, have given the government forces virtual impunity against prosecution for any human rights violation as unless the Government of India grants a proper permission or sanction to prosecute them but not a single prosecution sanction was granted in past 28 years,” he added.

He added that Kashmir has remained on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council from 1947 and since then several resolutions were also passed on the issue. “But the plebiscite never took place as the request of the withdrawal of forces was not fulfilled,” Qayoom said.

Senior advocate ZA Qureshi said the graph of human right violations have gone up in 2018 in the state. “We should expose and publish more reports of human rights violations by using modern gadgets to feed it to the outside world,” he added.

Advocate Arshad Andrabi said that UNHRC report should serve as eye opener for the world. Advocate M S Reshi, also spoke on the occasion.

The proceedings of the seminar were conducted by Adil Asimi, joint secretary of the Bar Association.